The Summit Hill Sons of American Legion Post 316, American Legion and Summit Hill Food Pantry know the meaning of Thanksgiving.

The three organizations teamed up again this year to help families who have fallen on hard times.Because of this, over 100 Summit Hill families in need will be able to have a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings on Nov. 24.Earlier this week, Joe Zubek, finance officer of the SAL, and Stan Karnish, SAL commander, presented John Williams, a volunteer of the Summit Hill Food Pantry, with a check for $2,000 to offset the cost of purchasing the frozen turkeys for the upcoming holiday.Williams said the money will cover the cost of all the frozen birds."The donation to the pantry will actually help a lot of people in town who do not have the funds to have a good Thanksgiving meal," Williams said. "It will feed everyone (in a recipient's family) for a day."The Sons of American Legion have been donating to the food pantry for the frozen birds on Thanksgiving for over two decades.Zubek said that he is glad the SALs can continue to provide the money for the birds on an annual basis as a community project."We know times get tough and no one should be without a good meal on Thanksgiving," he said. "Everyone deserves to enjoy a meal with their family.""We are just happy to do this for the pantry and the families in need," Karnish added.To raise the money for this donation, the group holds a number of fundraisers throughout the year.In addition to the turkeys, the American Legion is also holding a food drive for the pantry to supply the trimmings for the Thanksgiving meals.Canned items like cranberry sauce, gravy and vegetables, as well as stuffing mix can be dropped off Friday at the post home and will be picked up Saturday by Williams so he can begin preparing for the pantry's distribution day on Monday.Williams said that he appreciates the annual donation from the SALs, as well as the American Legion and all other organizations because without their help, the pantry wouldn't be able to provide the food to families that they do.When the Thanksgiving program began over two decades ago, 55 families received food packages for Thanksgiving. But rising food costs and tough economic times have continuously pushed the number of families in need up.The Summit Hill Food Pantry is a division of Shepherd House, an entity that contracts with government agencies to receive state and federal funding to help the needy. Shepherd House provides some nonperishable food items, but the majority of food distributed in the borough is donated by Summit Hill residents.Armon noted that the volunteers at the pantry are thankful for the generosity of the churches and organizations in the Summit Hill community because each group has donated either food, money or time to help feed families in need over the years.Anyone interested in donating food items or money to the Summit Hill Food Pantry, located in the basement of the Summit Hill Heritage Center, or becoming involved with the group, can still do so at any time by calling Rose Marie Armon at 570-645-3604 or Williams at 484-560-8725.